


Tell Me A Tale

by ceria



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-24
Updated: 2013-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 22:12:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28945704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceria/pseuds/ceria
Summary: I always knew the wind was going to blow you back to me one day
Relationships: Calypso | Tia Dalma/Jack Sparrow





	Tell Me A Tale

**Author's Note:**

> Reposting old fic. I've always meant to get around to my PotC stories. (Or to borrow the intro from my tumblr; I dipped my toes in the water accidently with Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan and _dove_ off the plank with PoTC)
> 
> Written for merrypirates on LJ back in December 2008

"You're a hard woman to find," Jack muttered to himself, stowing the oars of the _borrowed_ longboat. Water lapped against the rungs and Jack closed his eyes, listening to the familiar noise. It was faint, but the sound… it felt like a tiny version of home. For a moment until something croaked near him and he popped one eye open to stare at the large toad resting on the slats.

Slats, not planks and sides to a house, not a hull - nothing here for Jack after all. Except maybe a way to find his beloved ship if he was daft enough. What exactly did he know about this obeah woman after all? 

"Not’ing at all, Jack Sparrow, and I'll only invite you inside once." She leaned against the crooked threshold, golden light spilling out into the gray evening, so that only the slim outline of a woman was visible. 

"Tia Dalma," Jack said, standing, holding out one hand for her, as if he needed help crossing from a longboat to something stationary. "You've been told I was looking for you."

She watched him, her head turning to follow his movements as he climbed, but she didn't reach out to help him. "No," she said, "Not from any source you would expect," the syllables of her English slightly off balance, concentrated on the end of her words. That made him pause and blink, but confusion didn't hold Jack still for long. It drifted past, settling around his skin like fog before burning away. She'd obviously heard of him since she knew his name.

The warm light of the lanterns in her house resembled a golden dawn at sea and Jack smiled. Glass jars tinkled all about his head and he reached out to push them aside to avoid knocking into one, his head jerking erratically as he tried to look in every direction, observing the clutter. He'd almost touched a jar of eyeballs. Hanging next to it on a line of frayed hemp was a jar of… what the devil was that? He wasn't sure he wanted to know. 

She settled at the oak table, layers of cloth following, settling around her like a shadow, "What service may I do you?"

"I hear you like to collect tales."

"I do, if they be true or interestin' enough. Do you have a story for me?" Her hand caressed a pile of severed claws piled in front of her and Jack sat, uninvited. 

"I have the beginnings of a tale, one as true as the man sitting before you."

"Just the beginning?"

"Yes," Jack said, spreading his hands on the table in front of her, shunting aside coins and jewels – possibly up his sleeves – to rest his palms against wood and lean forward. A flash of silver caught his eye and he glanced at a heart-shaped locket close to her elbow.

"A tale about the sea and its wonders."

Her gaze followed his and she smiled, her eyes crinkling and Jack hid a shudder at her discolored teeth. Maybe she'd like some gold for those? He knew a good man for the job. 

"There are few tales of the sea you could tell me that I do not already know, Jack Sparrow. And you've already said this one has no end."

"Ahh, but that is the beauty of it, Tia Dalma. You could help write the end to this story, if you so liked."

Folding her hands beneath her chin, she nodded for him to continue.

"Two years ago a First Mate had the idea to find his own ship. I'm sure some would agree it might have been easier for him to wait for his old captain to die or pass her along, but he was restless, and the ship he sailed on was tired like the old man. She'd been at sea for many years and her bones were old, no longer capable or willing for adventures such as this intrepid young man wanted."

"She sounds as though her ready to sleep in the bosom of Davy's locker," Tia said, jerking back in her chair, movements seemingly agitated although Jack wasn't sure why.

"That's what gave me the idea," Jack replied, nodding at her, leaning closer. "Surely the locker had to have a ship or two not ready for the graveyard. So I bartered with 'im…"

"What did you barter that Jones needed?"

He shook his head, not only unwilling to tell that story, but not sure why she was interested. "Not part of tonight's tale, love. Needless to say, however, that Davy Jones found me perfect ship that night. One confined to the locker too early, a ship as restless as… well, the sea."

"And 'er name?"

"The _Black Pearl_ ," Jack whispered.

Tia tilted her head to the side, "Even I've heard of this ship and while she not be bound to the locker anymore, her is cursed."

"My ship's not cursed!" Jack said, his body twitching in denial.

"Not enough time has passed for the truth to be known yet," Tia told him, picking up the pile of claws on the table, rattling them between her dark fingers. "It will win out in the end though, and I think you might be glad to have lost her for a bit."

"The truth is that she is _my_ ship and I want her back." He could have bitten his tongue and he glanced warily at her hands.

"Take off you hat and let me see for myself."

"My hat?"

"I don't want to keep it, Captain Sparrow. I know the sentimental value it holds over you heart."

Preening at the title, Jack set the battered tricorn on the table and nodded at her.

"That's a pretty bauble in you hair, care to tell me where you found it?"

"This old thing? Singapore, Tortuga, all over the world. It's not even worth a shilling." He touched the one near his left ear.

"I have a proposition for you then."

"What?" he asked, though the more correct word would have been _why_.

"You know that Davy Jones gives away not’ing free? Yes? There is only one way you will keep you precious _Pearl_ in the end."

"I assure you I can think of plenty of ways, madam. But what is your suggestion?"

"To rid the seas of him. And I know you and you friends could do that."

"Friends?"

"So coy. Convene the Brethren Court and I will show you the way."

"The Brethren Court?" Jack cleared his throat in hopes of lowering his voice an octave. "I'm not sure what you mean." 

"I know who and what you are, do I need to say it?"

"Yes?"

"Pirate Lord."

Oh, _that_. Maybe she did know. "Then you would know I can't summon the court without me _Pearl_."

"I can help you find her." Tia rose from her chair, muttering under her breath about finding something - that it had to be close by. "Oh yes, I left it by the salamander." She pushed aside a large orange box sitting on a desk and leaned over, reaching toward the back of it. Jack sat up straighter, admiring her from behind. She was a pretty thing.

"Here it is," she waved a small box at Jack and he felt for the twine attached to his belt. "I have a compass," he told her, leaning back in his chair to wave it at her.

"Not like this one." She slid it across the table, sending bits of paper and bone flying. Jack caught it a moment before it reached the edge and opened the engraved box. It was pointing directly at Tia Dalma and she chuffed, shoulders shaking. Jack tilted his head, knowing she wasn't directly north. "Are you thirsty?" 

Jack grinned at her. "Do you have any rum?" The arrow spun directly right of him and Jack glanced that way, staring directly at two full bottles of… "Splendid!"

"It points to the thing you want most, Jack Sparrow. Do ye want a drink?"

He stood, reaching for the bottle as the arrow spun again, aiming back at her.

"I don't need a compass to know what I want," Jack said, pulling the cork loose with his teeth and swallowing the drink. 

"The sea can be a treacherous place," she said, "and some things are best followed with a little more magic and a little less skill."

"So," Jack caught the drip with his tongue and grinned at her. "I get to use this to recover my ship and in exchange…"

"You will call the Brethren Court. Then I can show you how to be rid of Davy Jones forever so to keep you precious pearl."

"I believe we have an accord," Jack said, hesitating for a moment. Did he set down the rum or the compass to shake her hand?

Grinning at him, she walked around the table, taking both compass and rum from his hands and placing them on the table. "It'll still be here in the morning."

Well, that was a turn of events Jack wouldn't mind. "The morning, you say?"

"Aye."

With a practiced bow, Jack grinned at her, then pushed the bottle and compass closer to his hat, picking up the second bottle of rum to bring with them. "Lead the way, my lady."


End file.
